Do I have enough computer security on my PC? How about some free security programs?

I have a laptop using Windows XP2 which I use regularly at random networks from a fraternity house, in college classes, to my home. Needless to say, I am not sure how secure the networks are:

These programs run at system start up:
Total Security: Paid Norton Security Center
AntiVirus: Free AVG AntiVirus
Firewall: Free Zonelabs Zone Alarm

These programs run once a week:
AntiSpyware: Windows Defender Beta, LavaSoft AdAware, and Spybot Search & Destroy

I run Limewire for P2P now and then. I browse the internet with FireFox. I update regularly for windows, firefox and all of my security. I also game regularly online.

My question is: does this sound safe? What else can I do? I dont want too many intrusive programs taking up tons of RAM, but I would like to be secure, as this new laptop is my only computer. Are there any free programs out there for college kids that are good for protection? Or do I have enough stuff running to protect me?
Thanks all.

8 replies
  1. cadaholic says:

    go to the following sites:

    pc world
    zd new
    webmasterfree
    kimkommando.com

    Hopefully there is a bunch of help there for you!

  2. Giles says:

    STOP! If your running Norton and AVG your asking for big trouble ! You can ONLY run one anti-virus at a time !As for the rest, your all set. I run basicly the same stuff and have never had a problim. Just make sure to change passwords reguarlly. Good decision to run Firefox ! Actually, if you never use IE you don’t even need anti-spy if your in Firefox all the time .

  3. jibberjabar says:

    Here you are:

    Pick and choose at least 2 from the list below. New spywares are created literally hourly, so no single anti-spyware can really detect all malware. Have at least 2 on hand and alternate scanning with each every few days or so. All are free. All can remove as well as detect.

    Spybot Search and Destroy:

    http://www.safer-networking.org/en/spybotsd/index.html

    Ewido:

    http://www.ewido.net/en/download/

    Adaware SE:

    http://www.lavasoft.de/software/adaware/

    A-Squared:

    http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/free/

    Windows Defender (Beta 2):

    http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx

    Unfortunately, many “paid for” anti-spyware products are in fact either of limited usefulness or downright scams. When in doubt, look at the list of rogue anti-spyware solutions listed here:

    http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm

    And to protect your computer from ever getting infected with spyware in the first place, you can use these 2 freebies:

    SpywareBlaster:

    http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html

    SiteAdvisor:

    http://www.siteadvisor.com/

    And free anti-virus programs:

    Here is a list of all the major free anti-virus programs:

    Avast:
    http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html

    Anti-Vir:
    http://www.free-av.com/

    AVG:
    http://free.grisoft.com/doc/avg-anti-virus-free/lng/us/tpl/v5

    BitDefender 8: (on-demand only, no real-time protection)
    http://www.bitdefender.com/PRODUCT-14-en–BitDefender-8-Free-Edition.html

    Clamwin: (on-demand only, no real-time protection)
    http://www.clamwin.com/

    All are fairly mediocre compared to some of the top rated (paid) anti-virus programs such as Kaspersky (KAV) or Eset NOD-32. But you can’t beat the price.

  4. Mojtaba N says:

    yeah,i think ur security is good but it’s better to use combo softwares like norton of kaspersky internet security that tearts all of the internet attacks.I recommend u to uninstall all of ur softwares but norton security center and dowload kaspersky or norton for free from http://www.9down.com (it’s illegal but nice to use)
    good luck

  5. Ginny K says:

    Now for my question!!!! How do I determine if or what kind of virus & spyware protection I have on my PC at the present time? Do I have firewall? Please reply soon!!

    Thanks so much.

    Ginny Knarr
    [email protected]

  6. :-*wan_rasengan-:* says:

    If you secure your computer and maintain it, use smart choices in the programs and habits you use, your computer will last longer than the 3 – 4 years it’s designed to last.

    Let’s start from the outside in –

    Router
    This works like a hardware firewall. The router doesn’t respond to most of the “are you there?” tactics hackers use. If some hacker’s scanning for victims and manages to find you despite the security … they’ll see the router not your computer.

    If it’s a wireless router – secure it, secure it, secure it! Change the admin password. Put an encrypted password to connect. Look up all the ways to secure your particular router. Write down the settings.

    Computer

    Firewall
    You need one. Yes, you do. And no, Microsoft’s is NOT enough. Get Zonealarm, it’s free.

    Browser
    This is how most people see the internet. There’s a high chance you’re using the “blue e” aka Internet Explorer. This is not a good habit as IE hasn’t been worked on (beyond fixes to problems people complain loudly about) in YEARS. It’s big, slow, out-of-date, allows all kinds of nasties in, insecure, inflexible, and a major target for hackers.

    Get Firefox – it’s also free, sleek, faster, more secure, blocks pop-ups, is very customizable, easy to use, and once you start using tabs… you’ll get frustrated with IE.
    There are also very simple ways to NEVER see a banner / iframe / image ad again – it’s an add-on to Firefox called Adblock Plus. I also recommend the automatic filter for Adblock – Filterset.G Updater. All free

    Other programs that find stuff on the net (file sharing, instant messengers) are also a security risk. I don’t know what you have / use, so I’d recommend looking up “securing thenameoftheprogram” on google.

    Get and install all updates to all your programs – Windows, your browser, your anti-virus, your anti-spyware, your router, you name it.

    Ok, now we get to do the clean up part:

    Anti-virus
    Viruses can look through your computer, send your info to nasty people, fill up your hard drive, fry your computer… the list is endless.
    I recommend AVG

    Anti-spyware
    Spyware / Adware / Malware are under the same category. Spyware watches what you do and sends the info to someone else. Adware shows you pop-ups regardless of your security settings. Malware is all of the above and more.
    Ad-aware, Spyware Blaster and Spybot Search & Destroy are my recommendations and the Uninstall programs you don’t use.

    Download “CCleaner” to find the files that are just clutter (temporary files, browser histories, browser caches, etc)

    Get into the habit of defragging and checking your disk for errors (both are options under “My Computer”, right click on your hard drive, choose “properties”, click on the “tools”) twice a month. You may want look up how to automate this through Scheduled Tasks.

    Protect your computer from yourself and others:

    Make each user on your computer their own Windows profile – and only give them (and yourself) limited accounts.
    The only time you need full (admin) access is to install programs.

    Make each person password protect their account.

    Get into the habit of changing ALL your passwords once a month. Don’t write down your passwords in a place others can find / use. Make passwords that use both numbers and letters and that are hard for anyone else to guess – I recommend keyboard patterns.

    Do yourself a huge favour and get a UPS – uninteruptable power supply. This goes one step beyond a power surge protecter and gives you time to shut down the computer, saves your router, etc from losing their settings or being fried by power fluctuations.

    I have a legal and moral obligation to keep my pc 100% clean. And I use an antivirus/spyware program out of Beijing, China.
    http://www.filseclab.com — This program has kept me 100% clean for the past nine years.
    Twister Anti-Trojan Virus is absolute state of the art technology that has a real time scanner
    that really works. Will scan your memory on start up and continues to run in the background
    while you use your pc. Plus this software uses very little CPU resources.
    Some examples of how great this program is. If you open a webpage and there is a virus or
    spyware embedded in the webpage the scanner will catch the virus in a second and clean.
    If you download any type of file including music or a zip file and there is hidden embedded
    virus in the file the download will stop and the Twister will clean and stop the download.
    I had an experience where the software I download the company used another installer other
    then their own. The installer had hidden embedded virus in the installer program. Twister found it and cleaned, plus ended the installation and traced it back to the installer software.
    (I wrote the original software company and they now use their own installer).
    What is really great is that you only pay a small one time fee for life. You will get frequent
    large signature updates,excellent support and they never charge you for any new versions.
    There are many other features as auto downloads, and the ability to fix all type of problems with your registry or windows.
    The chinese don’t believe in the annual fee or paying of new versions like most of the other software companies want to be paid over and over for the original purchase.

    I use Zone Alarm free firewall (http://www.zonealarm.com). As a backup even though I have ADSL. I use ewido antispyware / malware. http://www.grisoft.com –Ewido was purchased by AVG. Ewido is free and will protect you from rogue dialers.

    Also,you can use:

    free
    anti spyware blocker
    spybot search & destory
    spyware blaster
    http://www.download.com

    free
    Windows Defender
    http://www.microsoft.com

    free
    anti spyware firewall<<>click here to select a folder then tick the (c) thats your hard drive if you have 2 hard drives tick the 2 of them then click ok then click start when the scan is done click on remove tab.
    http://www.paretologic.com/

    all of them are the best among the best
    Don’t use Super Anti Spyware,it has malware in it.

    Before attempting to remove malware you must switch off System Restore as back up files will be hiding in there, and it will just restore itself. Go to Start – programs – accessories – system tools – system restore.
    Run Avast and Ewido in Safe Mode. To get into Safe Mode repeatedly press the F8 key after the bios screen loads but before Windows loads. You’ll know if you made it because the screen will be at 800 x 600 and your pc will be slow.

    Then beef up your security. Its easier to prevent malware getting on to your sytem in the first place rather than trying to remove it.

    The Windows firewall doesn’t stop malware on your pc from dialling out. Either of these firewalls are free for personal use and stop unwanted incoming and outgoing traffic. You choose which programs are allowed to access the internet. They are both fairly easy to use and updated regularly.
    http://www.zonelabs.com Zone Alarm firewall
    http://www.kerio.com Kerio firewall

    Shields Up security site, check your firewall works
    https://www.grc.com

    http://www.mozilla.com/ Firefox web browser
    http://www.opera.com/ Opera web browser
    Instal both these web browsers, turn off javascript on one and use that browser for vising unknown websites. They don’t support Active X so thats one less way for problems to get on your pc.

    Winpatrol is a handy utility that tracks cookies on your pc and stops unwanted changes to your startup folder.
    http://www.winpatrol.com

    Spywareblaster works with Internet Explorer and Firefox. It won’t uninstall spyware that is already on your pc, but it will prevent hijacks and other malicious changes to your browser.
    http://www.javacoolsoftware.com

    http://www.siteadvisor.com -Site Advisor warns about malware on sites you are about to visit.

    http://www.avast.com – Avast Antivirus

    http://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/… – Trend Micro online virus guide
    http://housecall.trendmicro.com/… – Trend Micro PCillin online scan

    http://www.ewido.net – Ewido anti trojan

    Ad-Aware SE Personal anti adware
    http://www.lavasoft.com

    Spybot Search and Destroy anti spyware
    http://www.safer-networking.org

    http://spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spy… – The Spyware Warrior site identifies fake anti spyware programs.

    http://www.bitdefender.com -BitDefender can be used as a second, on demand anti virus.

    For online AV scan, try the websites below:
    GFI E-mail Security Testing –
    http://www.emailsecuritytest.com/
    Port Scan Security Check –
    http://www.sdesign.com/securitytest/inde
    Shields UP! –
    https://grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2
    Sygate Online Services –
    http://scan.sygatetech.com/
    VMon –
    http://home.ahnlab.com/english/
    Panda ActiveScan Security Check –
    http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan
    Online Malware Scan –
    http://virusscan.jotti.org
    eTrust AntiVirus Web Scanner –
    http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virus
    BitDefender Free Online Virus Scan –
    http://www.bitdefender.com/scan8/ie.html
    Symantec Security Check –
    http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/defau
    For online spyware,malware & trojan scan:
    Trend Micro Anti-Spyware For The Web
    http://www.trendmicro.com/spyware-scan
    X-Cleaner Online Spyware Scanner
    http://www.spywareguide.com/txt_onlinescan.html
    Spyware Info Online Spyware Scanner
    http://www.spywareinfo.com/xscan.php
    Ewido-Anti Spyware and Anti Malware Solution
    http://www.ewido.net/en/onlinescan
    Tenebril Online Spyware Scan
    http://www.tenebril.com/scanner/189062_start.php
    Trend Micro Free Online Scan
    http://www.trendmicro.com/spyware-scan/free_spyware_scan.asp
    Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool
    http://www.microsoft.com/security/malwareremove/default.mspx
    Microsoft Safety Live Security Center
    http://safety.live.com/site/en-US/default.htm
    FutureSoft: Online Malware Scan
    http://www.futuresoft.com/products/antispyware/webscan.htm
    Free Online Trojan Scanner
    http://www.trojanscan.com

    Remember to update and run all of you anti malware programs at least once a week.

    Maybe you should print off this list and check it once a month…

  7. Diaboyos says:

    Spyware, Adware, Trojans, Malware, Dialers, Popups:
    http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/
    http://www.ewido.net/en/download/
    http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html
    http://www.download.com/Bazooka-Adware-and-Spyware-Scanner/3000-8022-10247782.html
    http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/sgdownload.html
    http://www.safer-networking.org/
    http://www.download.com/HijackThis/3000-8022_4-10379544.html
    http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/download/
    Online Scanners:
    http://www.webroot.com/consumer/products/spysweeper/freescan.html?
    http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virusinfo/scan.aspx
    http://www.pandasoftware.com/products/activescan.htm
    http://www.bitdefender.com/scan8/ie.html
    http://www.windowsecurity.com/trojanscan/
    http://www.kaspersky.com/virusscanner
    http://www.spywareguide.com/onlinescan.php
    http://housecall65.trendmicro.com/
    Spyware, Adware, Trojans, Malware, Dialers, Popups List:
    http://www.softpedia.com/catList/104
    Antivirus:
    http://www.grisoft.com/
    http://www.avast.com/
    Antivirus Lists:
    http://www.softpedia.com/catList/1
    Firewall:
    http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/freeDownload.jsp?dc=12bms&ctry=US&lang=en&lid=staticcomp_za
    Firewall Lists:
    http://www.softpedia.com/catList/97
    IP Blocker:
    http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/peerguardian/pg2-050918-nt.exe?download
    System Cleaner:
    http://www.ccleaner.com/
    System Cleaning List:
    http://www.softpedia.com/catList/98
    System Info:
    http://www.softpedia.com/catList/92

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